By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Khimki Moscow Region got the important and tough 74-70 win over Brose Bamberg on the road, on Day 16 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague competition thanks to its leader Alexey Shved.
The guests were up by eight points to start the quarter (60-68) but Bamberg‘s team tied the game at 69 with a 9-1 run and Hickman’s free-throws.
Zubkov and Honeycutt scored and Bartzokas’ team went up by four points (69-73) at 37′. This lead proved to be the most crucial of the game. Both teams couldn’t score more than one point in the remaining time and Bamberg’s guard Nikos Zisis missed the most crucial three of the game with 20 seconds left on the clock.
The star: Alexey Shved was scoring and passing all night long, doing what a leader does best. He finished with 28 points and six assists. Malcolm Thomas added 16 points and seven rebounds.
The game: The 29-year old leader of Khimki was impressive in the first quarter as in just ten minutes he posted 13 points, with three three-pointers (3/4 3FG), challenging Bamberg’s go-to guy, Wright who had nine early points. The game was tied at 26 after the first period.
In the second period, Egor Vialtsev was ejected from the game with two unsportsmanlike fouls and the momentum favored the home side. Bamberg used it to their advantage and got an eight-point lead (39-31) at 15′. The first half though ended 42-40 as Shved (17 pts) and Thomas (10 pts) responded to Brose’s run.
The game remained close in the third quarter as both teams were challenging each other (48-49) at 26′ with Wright and Shved continuing their show. With veteran Zisis orchestrating the offense and scoring in the last minutes of the period, the German side had a two-point advantage (58-56). In the final period, it was Khimki that sparked a run and came back to win the game.
Not enough: Dorell Wright continued his impressive performances as he put up a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.